Electrical interconnects are conductive structures that carry signals and information in modem electronic systems, such as computers, cellular telephones, and personal digital assistants. Substrates, including dice and packaging substrates, are the building blocks of modem electronic systems. Dice are electronic components made up of diodes, transistors, resistors, capacitors, and inductors that perform the electronic functions required in modem electronic systems. Packaging substrates provide a platform for mounting and interconnecting dice and other electronic components, such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors. Electrical interconnects connect together electronic components on and between dice and packaging substrates.
Electrical interconnects are a significant information transmission bottleneck in modern communication and computation systems. Information encoded in electronic signals is transmitted between electronic components over electrical interconnects in modern communication and computation systems. Electrical interconnects are often unable to transfer information at the high data rates that modern systems require. One reason for this is that electrical interconnects are often fabricated from conductive materials, such as metals, which have several inherent electrical limitations. First, electrical interconnects are susceptible to noise pick-up from neighboring conductors. Second, electrical interconnects have a finite resistance which when coupled to parasitic capacitances limits the speed at which information can be transmitted on the interconnects.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.